The Walrus and the Penguin (IV)

The Mobilization of the British Army (1914-1916)

A practice march at Aldershot (Library of Congress)

This post forms part of a series. To read the earlier installments, please see:

The Walrus and the Penguin

The Walrus and the Penguin (II)

The Walrus and the Penguin (III)

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Notwithstanding the role that Territorial units played in his original New Army scheme, Kitchener made no provision for an expansion of the Territorial Force. Indeed, during the three weeks that it took the recruiting machinery of the Regular Army to induct the 100,000 men Kitchener had called for, the War Office refrained from authorizing any increase in the authorized strength of the Territorial Force.

As a result the Territorial Force continued to operate on pre-war rules that allowed units that were below establishment to recruit new members but required units without vacancies to turn away surplus applicants. During the years preceding the outbreak of war, when most Territorial units had suffered from a shortage of volunteers, this limitation had been of little concern.¹ By the second week of the war, however, some Territorial units found themselves so well supplied with would-be recruits that they drew up waiting lists.²